Google's Touchscreen Chromebook Priced for UK
Shocker: It will be more expensive in the UK than in the U.S.
This afternoon, Google surprised the tech world with the announcement and launch of a brand new Chromebook laptop. Dubbed the Chromebook Pixel, the machine is the first Chromebook laptop to feature a touchscreen. It's also the first to feature such a high price tag. Costing $1,299 for the WiFi-only version, the Chromebook Pixel is aimed squarely at those that have full embraced the cloud. But how much will it cost in the UK?
Luckily for UK consumers, Google isn't just switching out the dollar sign for a pound sign. Unfortunately, UK shoppers are still getting screwed a bit. Those residing in the UK can snap up a Chromebook Pixel for £1,049. In case you were wondering, that translates to $1,600, which is higher even than the U.S. price of the LTE Pixel ($1,449).
The Chromebook Pixel packs a a 12.85-inch 2560 x 1700 display (with a PPI of 239), an Intel Core i5 processor (dual core, clocked to 1.8GHz) with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 32 GB Solid State Drive with 1TB of free cloud storage (though it's only good for three years), 2 x USB 2.0 ports, HD Webcam, a clickable glass trackpad, a backlit keyboard, dual band WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2x2, Bluetooth 3.0 and optional LTE.
The WiFi-only version is on sale in the UK starting today (via the Google Play store). No word on when the LTE model will launch in the UK, but it's headed for the states in April. Google didn't offer any details on pricing for that, either. Hopefully, it won't also cost the equivalent of $300 more for UK customers, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. That would put the laptop's price at under £1,150 by today's rates.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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cats_Paw This is crazy: Huge resolution and a system that can steal away your files (for all of you who dont know, if something is in the cloud, its no longer yours, its property of the clouds system owner).Reply
Kiss my (...) google, and i used to like you. -
damianrobertjones Remember: That resolution is NOT 'working space' but instead a great big DPI incrersed screen. You might as well have 1080pReply -
badvok66 In the UK all prices quoted MUST include Sales Tax (VAT) which is currently at 20%, so while we may be getting ripped off, it is not by as much as you think and is easily accounted for by manufacturers hedging for exchange rate variability.Reply -
back_by_demand badvok66In the UK all prices quoted MUST include Sales Tax (VAT) which is currently at 20%, so while we may be getting ripped off, it is not by as much as you think and is easily accounted for by manufacturers hedging for exchange rate variability.Even without VAT it is massively overpriced, who in their right minds would buy this?Reply -
Intel integrated graphics has no problem pushing "it all". It isn't trying to run Crysis. You would be throwing money away and wasting battery life putting a graphics add on to a "cloud" computing system.Reply
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jksingh This isn't made to sell really well. Two of the biggest complaints with chrome os is that the hardware is cheap and there are not any powerful apps. This is a nexus device for chrome os. They want developers to make more powerful apps. They even said that they do not expect this to sell well and they don't care if it does not. They're not trying to make a big profit off of this. They're paving the way for the next generation of Chromebooks. The price is a little bit high but that might be because of the screen.Reply